Originally published over at Taxi Leaks, this provided a chuckle this morning and happens to sit at the intersection of two topics dear to my heart. Uber and Accurate Language. (Slightly edited for better flow and consistency with this blog’s style.)

“licence” is a noun

“license” is a verb

(in British English, the Americans use “license” for both )

Hard to remember UNLESS you think of ” advice ” and ” advise ” , which work exactly the same way but their respective pronunciations give them away.

For the longest time, my sentence description for what I do is ‘translate’

Tech Speak to Business Speak.

Sales Speak to Marketing Speak.

English Speak To American Speak.

Corporate Speak to Customer Speak.

I didn’t start that way … but when I look back at what I have done and attempt to explain what some would consider to be an eclectic career – that is the common thread. Back in 2012 I wrote this.

I was prompted to write this as I was thinking today about a dialogue I had with a good friend of mine around the People First initiative … dialogue modified to make sense out of context …

ME: I am thinking that IF People First is focussing on the future present of work …. (since ALL language you read is really about impact on corporations and society – not really on the individual), then one aspect I want to be talked about is IF you are an individual – what is the language YOU should use?

For example …. I am not ‘talent’. You are not going to ‘acquire me’, so why does a corporation talk about ‘talent acquisition’. On the flip side – I have mobility and can move around and YOU dear corporation have to jump to this piper, who is playing my tune.

Make sense ?

Friend: Makes sense.

I don’t frame it as a ‘corporate and you’ thing.

I frame it as an understanding, sense making and modelling thing where the refreshed and healthier models can live in various contexts.

ME: I frame it as the interface / intersection where the translation occurs. That is where I hang out, always have done – which in turn plays to …

“ an understanding, sense making and modelling thing where the refreshed and healthier models can live in various contexts.”

Cyprus ‘selling’ EU citizenship

… not just to anyone – no .. to the super rich of Russia and Ukraine. And if you are paying attention, you won’t have ‘read it here first’, but watch when Mueller’s findings become more public how inextricably linked organizations like The Bank Of Cyprus are to the Trump Administration and his branding organization. (Sorry – hard time calling it Real Estate).

So you want a job ….

It’s not how you apply, it’s who you know. And if you don’t know someone, don’t bother.

Companies are trying to fill a position with minimal risk, not discover someone who breaks the mold.

The number of jobs you apply to has no correlation to whether you’ll be considered, and you won’t be considered for jobs you don’t get the chance to apply to.

Sad that it is the case and sad that it was so surprising that it warrants an article in Fast Company.

England and America

“I miss the English,” he says. “I miss Londoners. I miss the wit. Americans, they’re very, well, de Tocqueville saw this coming in about 1850 – he said, it’s a marvelous thing, American democracy, but don’t they know how it’s going to end up? It’s going to be so mushy that no one will dare say anything for fear of offending someone else. That’s why Americans aren’t as witty as Brits, because humour is about giving a little bit of offence. It’s an assertion of intellectual superiority. Americans are just as friendly and tolerant as Londoners, but they flinch from mocking someone’s background or education.”

I couldn’t have said it better – which explains why Martin Amis is famous for his writing – and I am not! [ Read the full article. ]

Students who take this course will be:
Positioned to serve as the company AR expertsQualified to teach AR to co-workers, bosses, and partners
Armed with applicable AR use casesReady to create memorable customer experiencesAble to initiate low-risk, low-cost, affordable pilot programsAble to decide when to implement AR or VR solutions
Confident using AR to attain, retain and train bright new employees
Prepared to represent employers to the AR communityReady to build a framework of AR technology options
Able to find tech and AR experts when and as needed
Able to review a video version of the class

Many people think Americans pay more taxes than other countries, which is not true. Many Americans pay more taxes than other Americans, and it’s not the richest Americans who pay the most. Should everyone pay the same percentage of their income, or should the richest Americans pay a higher percentage of their income? First we need to get to a common definition of income!

“First we need to get to a common definition of income!” How hard can that be?